Project 10073 Record — Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1 February 1954

This document is a Project 10073 record detailing a sighting incident that occurred on 1 February 1954 near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The primary witness, a commercial pilot, reported observing six objects while tracking a high-altitude cosmic research balloon. According to the witness, the objects were initially observed in a trail formation, spaced evenly, and appeared to be solid, bright white, and basketball-sized. The witness, who was in an aircraft at 6,000 feet, noted that the objects moved slowly under the balloon toward an East-North-East direction before suddenly breaking formation and ascending at right angles at a high rate of speed. The witness captured the event using a 16mm Bolex camera with a 6-inch telephoto lens. The report explicitly states that the objects were not reflections from the aircraft windshield or the balloon itself. The witness also noted that the objects were later observed by a down-camera on the balloon. Despite the photographic evidence, the official conclusion recorded on the form is 'INSUFFICIENT DATA,' noting that the Navy was tasked with analyzing the negatives, but the necessary reports and photos from the aircraft were not received. The file also includes supplementary materials, including a newspaper clipping from the Greenwich Time dated 3 February 1954, which describes a separate incident involving two schoolboys in North Mianus, Connecticut, who reported seeing a 'flying saucer' that they described as a saucer-shaped object with a light shining from inside, which they watched for three minutes before it disappeared. The document contains various questionnaires filled out by the pilot, including sketches of the object's motion and shape, and confirms that the pilot had previously observed similar phenomena while tracking balloons near San Angelo, Texas, in January 1953, though those incidents were never reported.